Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 26 October 2021 to Question 59919, on Overseas Aid, and with reference to the Autumn Budget and Spending Review 2021, what assessment she has made of the impact on funding for existing bilateral projects of counting a proportion of the additional loan of over £1 billion worth of Special Drawing Rights to the IMF’s Poverty Reduction and Growth Trust as Official Development Assistance.

Departmental Official Development Assistance (ODA) budgets will be increasing significantly over the Spending Review period, from the £10 billion that was allocated in 2020 to at least £12.3 billion by 2024-25. The UK's Special Drawing Rights (SDR) contribution to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Poverty Reduction and Growth Trust provides valuable financial support to the poorest and most vulnerable countries. The ODA impacts of SDR channelling are additional to these growing departmental ODA budgets.